My last 6 speed was a combo of 1 and 4 sorta. All the way right and down position, but only accessible by pulling the collar on the shifter up. Maybe that's the same as the knob pull you're mentioning though.
I liked it though. Kept 1-6 in places that made sense, and never had an "oh fuck" moment going from 5-6 since reverse required the collar pull. It was a 2006 Tiburon Tuscani trim (US if that matters). RIP good buddy.
If I recall correctly it sorta changes over the course of the games. I think DS1 was primarily focused on character level, or souls spent on levels, while DS2 had a separate tracking system based on how many souls you have collected in total. Can't speak too much on DS3 though.
For DS1 and DS2 at least, you definitely can climb those ranks to the point it's difficult to find someone else that's online and in your bracket, yeah.